Coal Governors Want Clean Energy Action

The federal government needs to invest in the research and development of clean coal technology if the nation is to use its most abundant fossil fuel energy source in a low-carbon future, the governors of four western coal-rich states said after convening for a meeting yesterday, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Clean coal is a catch-all phrase describing various strategies for stripping the carbon and other pollutants out of coal that is burned to make electricity. It could include coal gasification, or carbon sequestration -- strategies that keep carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, where it is the leading cause of human-driven climate change. The strategies for producing energy without fueling global warming are many -- but like clean coal, many need a quantum leap in technological development to go mainstream.

Whether it's solar or wind power, biofuels or clean coal, these energy sources need to become more cost-effective and efficient. America has never failed to produce the innovations that lead the world -- but like these governors suggest, the tremendous ingenuity of the U.S. free market needs to be primed with incentives from the federal government.

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